96 
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
have an irregular wavy line of the same color crossing them with a 
round spot and a vague patch above. Both upper and lower wings, 
particularly the former, are stippled with blended spots of dark brown 
or black. The thorax and abdomen are mottled with yellowish-buff 
and brownish-purple. The female is lighter than her mate, all four 
wings being crossed with a band of brownish-purple, with an irregu¬ 
lar clouded patch of the same color at the base of each wing near the 
1 >ody. The body is mottled and the wings stippled much the same 
as with the male. A good-sized specimen of this fine insect will 
measure five and a half inches across its expanded wings. It is not 
rare throughout the eastern half of the United States and Canada, 
and two or three closely allied species or varieties of the same species 
(one of them considerably larger than our own) occur throughout 
Mexico and temperate and tropical South America. 
The eggs are deposited singly on the button-wood, oak, and the 
different species of pine, and the caterpillars may be found full grown 
in September. They are usually dark green in color, although occa¬ 
sionally brown or even black, three or four inches long when full 
grown, and are rather hairy. Each segment is armed with short 
rough spines, with four larger ones on the forward part of the body. 
Larva of Eacles imperialis. 
The spiricles are very distinctly marked on the sides. The larva 
burrows into the ground, where it transforms into a chrysalis, remain¬ 
ing in this state during the winter. The chrysalis, which is much 
like that of C. regalis , makes its way to the surface of the ground, 
where it emerges a moth in June, and the empty pupa case may be 
found partly protruding from its burrow after the moth has flown. 
As the larva of this insect is a large and stout creature, it might 
be supposed that it would be readily seen ; but as it is frequently 
located on the high branches of large trees and is usually of the same 
color as the leaves, it is not an easy insect to find. Where pine or 
sycamore trees overhang a road or a well-worn path the huge pellets 
